I’ll be yabbering a lot in this one, but most likely you’ve already seen the photo post I made on her. This is the end product that I’ll be working my way towards in this long-ass story of Wears-Only-Ropes.
That’s Wears-Only-Ropes as designed by Boogeestro, colored, water and sub by me. So here’s the story. Well really, HERE is her story:
So I write fanfiction, mostly based around Prequel. A while back I got the idea to write one using Ra’Jirra from Prequel as a spy in a sort of alternate-universe Tamriel from Elder Scrolls, where magic is fading and technology is beginning to come to power. The first was named “From Elsweyr With Love” – yeah, a take not only from the Bond movie, but some plot elements were lifted from the original as well.
I had a lot of fun writing that, so I did another called You Only Live 18 Times. In an odd way, I did pull some plot points from the Bond movie You Only Live Twice too, though unless you’ve seen that movie recently, I’d be surprised if you spot them too much. This time the story has a nautical slant, though Ra’Jirra still is the central character.
That image up there is part of the story too. By Boogeestro, who I’d only recently “tuned in to” and he did that one for me. I described the CATv3 as a sort of steampunk-JetSki, and he did an amazing job envisioning it. His Ra’Jirra design isn’t hard to look at either!
So I wanted another, and magically found some $ in my Paypal, so I gave him 3 scenes to choose from that he’d be interested in, and he chose the climactic scene from the You Only Live 18 Times story to do. I watched his stream as he drew her, though I had only the barest idea what she should look like. He produced this…
That design is just nuts. A friggin fluted TAIL? She was more than I’d ever hoped. I can say I suggested the Sailor tattoo on her leg at least. Well after that, I knew this was no longer just an illustration of a part of the story, this is a damned PROMOTION of it! So I’d better do the colors and background RIGHT. First thing I wanted was to get a color scheme. That crazy aquatic argonian design demands something not too conservative, thats for sure! I ended up going with this:
I liked the look of it, even though it’s far from conservative. In the scene from the story, she’s swimming down to a submarine. I intentionally left out a crucial thing so you won’t know exactly what’s happening just from the illustration. But she’s scared, I’ll leave it at that. So I went and found a tutorial describing how to illustrate an underwater scene in Photoshop. I followed it and came up with this frankly gorgeous background.
I was tempted to stop right there. Looks almost like a cel from a movie – well, other than the boobs and lizard puddy. But you’ve seen the final version and there’s not a lot more to tell. Just that I really think for a change I did Boogeestro’s design proud with my colors and background. One thing I KNOW is that I love the result.
That’s it. Wears-Only-Ropes, from You Only Live 18 Times. If you’ve read this far, you might as well read the story. Knowledge of the prior one isn’t necessary, but if you like it, you can always go back to read From Elsweyr With Love. Also, I am writing the final story now, named On His Mane’s Secret Service. This time though, other than lifting the title, it’s a completely original plot.
I’d like to put out another APB – this time for the artist who drew this:
Because I really went to town on this one. Once again someone suggested it but he didn’t know where he got it from – so if you know, pls let me know so I can credit appropriately!
I’m getting better at doing linework, and this time every single line in the finished work was one I did – based on the above of course. Not in any way slighting the work of the original! But I wanted clean lines on this one so I redrew them all. If you didn’t know, I don’t own a tablet. I do everything with a mouse. So I’ve gotten pretty good at using the Curvature Pen and the Fade setting on brushes. Someday I really gotta get one.
Obviously I filled in the negative space quite a bit… So then I added flat colors…
It was right about here that I thought to myself… hey… that little thing she’s supposedly “wearing” would probably be transpa…. wait… WAIT! I can make that happen!
So I did. I’m naughty boy. Not only did I make it transparent, but it’s dual-layer transparent with one where the cloth is resting right up against her scales and the other where it’s farther away. I liked the result. Yeah, technically that means I actually drew something. A little.
Added shading…, put a reflection in the window. (Which, if you think about it, is wrong. It would be the left side of her face, not the same view we have. But for that I’d have to actually be able to draw something new. So heck with it, I don’t think it jumps out as WRONG anyway.)
And finally… my signature shiny…
At this resolution, you cant see it but most of the reflections on her are bordered with a scale pattern. In fact, she really deserves to be seen at higher res than this.
I’d like to put out another APB – this time for the artist who drew this:
Because I really went to town on this one. Once again someone suggested it but he didn’t know where he got it from – so if you know, pls let me know so I can credit appropriately!
I’m getting better at doing linework, and this time every single line in the finished work was one I did – based on the above of course. Not in any way slighting the work of the original! But I wanted clean lines on this one so I redrew them all. If you didn’t know, I don’t own a tablet. I do everything with a mouse. So I’ve gotten pretty good at using the Curvature Pen and the Fade setting on brushes. Someday I really gotta get one.
Obviously I filled in the negative space quite a bit… So then I added flat colors…
It was right about here that I thought to myself… hey… that little thing she’s supposedly “wearing” would probably be transpa…. wait… WAIT! I can make that happen!
So I did. I’m naughty boy. Not only did I make it transparent, but it’s dual-layer transparent with one where the cloth is resting right up against her scales and the other where it’s farther away. I liked the result. Yeah, technically that means I actually drew something. A little.
Added shading…, put a reflection in the window. (Which, if you think about it, is wrong. It would be the left side of her face, not the same view we have. But for that I’d have to actually be able to draw something new. So heck with it, I don’t think it jumps out as WRONG anyway.)
And finally… my signature shiny…
At this resolution, you cant see it but most of the reflections on her are bordered with a scale pattern. In fact, she really deserves to be seen at higher res than this.
Kaz sent me some sketches and I finally got hold of em yesterday. (They’ve been here a while but nobody thought to TELL me that!) Anyway, I decided to play with this one…
Usually I just clean up the lines, but this time I decided to sort of trace over them instead.
I came up with this:
I know the body’s a bit wonky. But this one is just for fun. I wasn’t going to spend too much time on it. Colors shading and highlighting…
I know it’s not awesome. But sometimes, you know, I really don’t care. But what to do for a background? I started thinking about what might cause her to be frowning like that. And looking up.. oh… OH! I got it!
You can take that as you will. I imagine she’s about to be instructed to go to the Mage’s Guild and free Katia from the vile clutches of Sigrid – BEFORE Weedum-Ja goes on to become the Hero of Kvatch!
‘What?’ you say? How can an NPC, obviously present after the destruction of Kvatch actually be the HERO? That’s the magic of fantasy, my friend!
Cider drew it as a commission for Shoka. Shoka asked me if I would color it. In fact, I already had! I had been looking to find him to give me permission! Well today we connected, I did some little cleanup and can finally post this.
Original sketch:
With flat colors:
Shading. Which of course includes a little bit of chest enhancement. Sorry, it’s just what I do…
I went a bit farther on the next step. Rather than just draw eyelights, I added another layer of shading (that’s actually pretty normal) but also a bit of leg muscle enhancement.
I knew I had something good when I put those eyes in. No, her eyes aren’t red normally. But she’s pissed off. At what? Well, being trapped in a cage by Sigrid in an underground cave for one. OH! So guess what the background needs to be?
So this is Katia Managan – UNCAGED! (in her dreams at least).
I think I’m finished with this, though for some reason I’m not terribly happy with the result. But I can’t spend forever trying to figure out what I screwed up. Again by DrawPanther and colored by me.
I don’t know exactly what it is, but something’s just not right here it feels like. But I’m done I think. Sometimes you just can’t see the problem and you gotta let other people see. Maybe there isn’t one!
My favorite of this set by far. How can I help it with that expression? Anyway, another Satasha comission by DrawPanther. Then colored by me.
ORIGINAL:
And then after adding flat colors…
A bit of major shading and a background thrown in…
Highlighting doesn’t do quite a much here since the eye-lights were really already in the original (though I added some more anyway!)
That’s it. BTW, at some point I obviously accidentally pulled the shade layer down a few pixels – note the outline at the top of her head. However, I liked the result so I left it.
But one more change. Both Sashimi and the artist had teeth in mind behind Rajirra’s fangs instead of a tongue. I dunno, I kinda like the tongue but…
Oh! I posted this on the wrong blog too! Well, no problem there. A quick Reblog from the other site and PRESTO! Good as new.
What follows is a huge wall of random thoughts related to last night/this morning’s Drunk Stream. Consider too that this was composed on 2 hours of sleep and that my brain is probably not fully functional or I’d not have posted this at all. Do not read if no interest. Well, you won’t anyway. Sorry, I have very few images to post to keep it from being Massive Wall of Text, but I’ll do what I can anyway!
Thoughts on Kazerad Drunk-Stream of 2/19/2017-2/20/2017
I’ve slept for a grand 2 hours since the drunk-stream and I wanted to write this about all the wildly varying topics brought up during it. Some I’ll go into depth in, most I’ll just gloss. I think really I don’t care much about Prequel webcomic anymore, but as a topic of recurring connection with the fanbase. A good thing too because the Update seems, to this observer, to be as distant as it ever was. I don’t anticipate it for months yet honestly.
(BD Pontificating in his Evil Quill Weave incarnation)
If you want to play along and missed the stream, here’s an imgur gallery of various screenshots. However, most of this won’t really refer to those directly. Some will though.
Only continue if you actually care somewhat. It’s really fine if not. I’m just rambling mostly. And some questionable images (but not the kind you really want to see.) You have been warned.
1. I came in a little late and Kaz was doing a crayon drawing of, I assume, Kvatch since it’s on a hill like that. I made the keen insightful connection with the Bush-ism “A shining city on a hill”. I’ve been promoting that connection ever since with the burning of Kvatch. I think I’m the only one who likes the analogy. But if I push it long enough, someone will have to feed my ego.
2. TheRandomGuy became my favorite Prequel fan of all time for this fake Canadian passport. Absolutely the best.
3. Let’s talk about horsecock a bit. Now look, I’m hetero and blatantly so. I’ve come to terms with this fact. I’m not proud of it, I just know what I am and accept it. I’m a Standard-issue Male Pig. Even so, I appreciate the THEORY that a penis can inspire lustful thoughts in others. I may not get it, but I don’t have to. Frankly, it’s a damn good thing that others aren’t as completely grossed-out by them as I am or the species would have a really tough time. So not only do I understand this in a theoretical sense, I have concrete proof that it’s true. And if there’s anything I’ve learned from the Internet, there are fetishes I never dreamed existed nor could have conceived of. Horsecock is surely not the worst of them. Pretty tame really, given it’s size and purported voluminous ejaculate. But really, my life would have been just fine had I never found out what the term “medial ring” meant. Now I can’t look at a horse cock without the term popping up in my head.
While it’s true you learn something new every day, it’s NOT true that this is inevitably a good thing.
4. Fortunately the next commission satisfied my own personal fetish. Nice generic nude Katia. Which makes me want to rant a bit on the Rick2tails controversy. As a refresher, Rick2tails uploaded an image with Katia breastfeeding an infant and his OC playing with his and her other offspring. My immediate reaction? Cool. Full nipplage. Yeah. Piggy, I know. It’s built in – can’t help it. But some were offended, apparently at the image’s implied “ownership” of Katia. Now really, there’s a LOT worse of that going on than Rick2tails’ waifuism! But think for a minute on what being upset by that implies. You’re upset that another person has a fantasy that his OC and a fictional character might have a happy life together. Why would that upset anyone? The only conclusion I have is that it disturbs the >complainer’s< internal fantasy of “owning” Katia. Or possibly that the concept itself is abhorrent to the complainer. I don’t know Rick2tails, but I do know without a doubt that this is just something he likes to do with his OC. Couple him with other characters. LOTS of other characters. Nothing very unusual there. Rock on, Rick2tails – and if it brings me more Katia nipples, I’m absolutely okay with that!
5. Last on the imgur are various incarnations of Prequel related sketches and images adorning real life places. NICE. I particularly like Spartan’s framed sketches of Punk-Katia. And of course the imaginative use of a sticker on a shotgun! When these first came out (stickers) I’d an idea of running a contest on most unusual place to put them. After some implied but never clearly stated ideas of having them as pasties on boobs, I think this would have been the true winner if that contest ever actually happened.
6. Dragon Dating Sim. Yeah. That. It ended up being exactly what I feared. It was a bad fanfic turned into a Steam game. (If you can really use the word “game” for that.) To be fair, I bailed before it was finished. AND to be fair I actually followed the story line. Though I think the main reason was to hear Kaz’ interpretation of bad character voicing – the PC being the worst of all. My best description would be a cross between Gollum and a bad Peter Lorre. But try as we might, we couldn’t ever get to first base with any of the dragons. (Though we did kiss the forearm of one) I think we drank coffee with one, which apparently satisfies the minimum requirement to be called a “dragon dating sim”.
First thing that struck me were the totally fantasy-breaking Standard-Issue Japanese Anime Sim backgrounds. For a alternate-world populated by “intelligent speaking dragons” (of which I think that term was used about 20 times, to remind us that these were “intelligent speaking dragons”). Wow – a portal to a world of ISDs, and they still build buildings that look exactly like a Japanese High School. And normal chairs. Where, pray tell, doth the ISD put his tail? I, as a person who uses the word ‘dragon’ in my own nickname since time immemorial, do hereby utter an apology for those who hold the concept of dragons in high esteem. I am embarrassed.
Is there really NO bar you must reach to have a game issued on Steam? So I can put my bad fanfiction up with some Skyrim screenshots then, with ‘decision’ trees like:
He asks you if you want to go back home. Your answer: Yes. I’m tired. I want to go back home. No. I want to stay with you.
Such compelling and engaging content. Can we add a third? “Kiss his snout and whisper sweet nothings in his tympanic membrane.” Now look, even I would choose that one over the pointless offerings we are given. One sentence randomly threw in the word “comestibles” instead of “food”. Do NOT do that. People don’t say “comestibles”. Not even in dragon worlds. Not ever. Sure, it’s a word. Congrats on your vocabulary. Now work on learning when to use and when NOT to use them. I feel stupid criticizing writing and more than a little hypocritical. But at least I don’t try to SELL my crap! Kaz mentioned one thing he hates, when someone uses a term like “female” as a noun. As in:
The female came in and took the bedpan away.
His rant was based around the fact that the word should be an adjective. As in “The female dragon came in and took the bedpan away.” I’d like to point out that I don’t quite agree – it can be a noun. But it’s the same problem as in “comestibles”. Just because it can be a noun, doesn’t mean it SHOULD be used as a noun. The only conceivable scenario I think it would be appropriate would be in a scientific study of some animal.
“The female is now unable to nurse her cub.” “The male displays his plumage to warn off potential rivals.”
To use it in any other circumstances renders it frankly a bit offensive. Like, the only defining characteristic of this particular person is that he is male. Otherwise he is a generic entity. He’s got a swinging Willie. That’s all you need to know about This Entity. At least use the word like Kaz points out – as an adjective for a more descriptive noun.
“The female dragon came in and took the bedpan away.”
Marginal but at least it’s not saying “the thing that has ovaries came in and took the bedpan away.”
Actual content paraphrased: “What does the blood around his mouth indicate to you?”
Answer not provided: “Blood? Oh! I thought that was lipstick. I was going to say it indicates he likes to dress like a woman female late at night and pick up Johns.”
7. Yes. Dropping that topic. Kaz said one thing that really struck me as interesting and worthy of more thought. It concerned masturbation. Drunk streams are great in that they reduce inhibitions, so discussion of masturbation as more than a “huh huh jack off huh huh” topic can at least be broached. At most he said like 4 sentences on the subject, but the gist was “Humanity’s biggest asset over the other species is that they can masturbate.” Granted I found a list of 9 other animals that CAN masturbate, but those are the exceptions. I’d like to elaborate on this a little more, while keeping myself as clinical as possible on the subject. I understand Kaz has a degree in Psychology and Economics. More than likely, at some point in his Psychology classes he came across this little jewel. I doubt it was his own idea directly, but it’s a hella interesting one for serious inquiry. I know we’re not the only species that can masturbate, but I suspect he’s onto something anyway. Maybe it wasn’t the increase in the size of our brainpan that led to us becoming the dominant species on the planet. Maybe it was also the length of our reach! So if you really want to breed for intelligent cats, work on getting them to be able to pleasure themselves. I noticed Lizards are already on that list, so Quill is already in the works.
bluedraggy 